Craftsman is at Lowes

nbpt100 · Jul 1, 2018

Moparman390 said:
Craftsman wasn't failing. Sears was failing. Craftsman's sales were falling but still commanded almost 30% of the hand tool market, plus strong shares in power and lawn tools. This was due to fewer and fewer Sears stores and declining overall traffic at Sears and malls in general. The mass market consumers that they market Craftsman to don't make that much of a deal about COO anymore, HF is a good example of this, as are Husky, Kobalt, and most power tools. Made In China just doesn't scare people off as much anymore.

Now they are trying to use Made In USA as a point of difference where they can but they still aren't afraid to import some Craftsman stuff too.

You are right. Craftsman has not been failing. It could have done better but Tool sales at Sears has been a big part of their overall income. If it was a failure it would not have sold for as much as it has or been purchased by SBD. It has been discussed here before in Detail but Sears is failing due to its Hedge fund CEO who has a whole different agenda than the typical share holder. It did not have to fail. It has been designed to fail. Very sad.

finn · Jul 1, 2018

It’s easy to blame Eddie, but then you have to find a scapegoat for all of the other department store chains that have similar problems. Penny’s is gone here and in much of the rest of the country, Wards disappeared decades ago, Yonkers, Boston Store.

Malls in general are down the tubes and without foot traffic, you don’t sell merchandise in a b&m store.

Next · Jul 1, 2018

finn said:
It’s easy to blame Eddie, but then you have to find a scapegoat for all of the other department store chains that have similar problems. Penny’s is gone here and in much of the rest of the country, Wards disappeared decades ago, Yonkers, Boston Store.

Malls in general are down the tubes and without foot traffic, you don’t sell merchandise in a b&m store.

Sears could have crushed Amazon, as recently as 10 years ago. They had everything to do it, plus showrooms. Boomers loved them some Sears, younger generation could have. Eddie is to blame.

mudflap · Jul 2, 2018

Next said:
Sears could have crushed Amazon, as recently as 10 years ago. They had everything to do it, plus showrooms. Boomers loved them some Sears, younger generation could have. Eddie is to blame.

I have often thought the same thing...Sears was the Amazon of my parents/grandparents day.. They perfected the "online"..(mail order).. business ...and with the brand recognition, and loyal customers they had...they could have crushed amazon when it was still a wet spot...

Andres26tnt · Jul 2, 2018

Moparman390 said:
Craftsman wasn't failing. Sears was failing. Craftsman's sales were falling but still commanded almost 30% of the hand tool market, plus strong shares in power and lawn tools. This was due to fewer and fewer Sears stores and declining overall traffic at Sears and malls in general. The mass market consumers that they market Craftsman to don't make that much of a deal about COO anymore, HF is a good example of this, as are Husky, Kobalt, and most power tools. Made In China just doesn't scare people off as much anymore.

Now they are trying to use Made In USA as a point of difference where they can but they still aren't afraid to import some Craftsman stuff too.

This. People need to understand Craftsman isn't a Failing brand and their tools aren't horrible as they make them to be. I think craftsman need to be a medium brand with high quality domestic and imported tools.

6PTsocket · Jul 2, 2018

Sales may not have fallen that much and their average customer may not have noticed but we know that Craftsman tool quality had been on a down hill slide for decades and is now mostly garbage. So SB&D bought a name that only impressed the uninformed. They also did it to expand into the outdoor equipment business.

Moparman390 said:
Craftsman wasn't failing. Sears was failing. Craftsman's sales were falling but still commanded almost 30% of the hand tool market, plus strong shares in power and lawn tools. This was due to fewer and fewer Sears stores and declining overall traffic at Sears and malls in general. The mass market consumers that they market Craftsman to don't make that much of a deal about COO anymore, HF is a good example of this, as are Husky, Kobalt, and most power tools. Made In China just doesn't scare people off as much anymore.

Now they are trying to use Made In USA as a point of difference where they can but they still aren't afraid to import some Craftsman stuff too.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

DonglordActual · Jul 3, 2018

Jaysreal said:
I wouldn't say it's that bad actually. That chart is dumbed down quite a bit; last time I counted SBD owns well over 20 (current) tool brand names. Couple that with the fact that Proto isn't available anywhere close to where the other two are in the same "market segment" leads to a misleading chart which was likely drafted to partially educate confused investors who don't need all the details. Craftsman, Lenox, and Irwin were recently acquired which explains much of the overlap shown in that chart to begin with. USAG, Facom, and Sidchrome are all the same brand really, just different names for different regions and with the power tools It's not much Different from the TTi situation at home Depot.

You're right about half of the brands having no awareness among the non-industry/mechanic crowd. It is more like that Stanley, Lenox, Irwin, Craftsman, Porter-Cable, Black & Decker, Bostitch, and DeWalt are the only ones the average person would be aware of and they probably don't know or care that they're all from the same company.

I think Lenox and Porter-Cable are probably the ones that are going to be axed to make room for Craftsman on Lowe's shelves. I think they'll keep Irwin because of the Vise Grip branding being well-recognized and the fact that they have a pretty fully realized product lineup. I just can't see them letting Stanley make them lose most of Kobalt because this deal might not be forever. Gotta have your fallbacks.

WittHay · Jul 7, 2018

WWheeler said:
None of the socket sets were visible besides the pics on the boxes, but the one thing that stood out to me about the wrenches that you can see is how wide the body is. It's almost as wide as the closed end. I guess I just didn't expect Stanley to take the old Sears raised panel design and make it even fatter.

Picked up a set of the Stanley Craftsman SAE wrenches yesterday at Rona for $24.99 cad. Decent quality, a improvement from the last Craftsman ST series wrenches that were sold in Canada. Better quality than some of the raised panels sold in the local industrial places.

They will be going in the service truck replacing a set of US made Craftsman. The US set has a nice plastic holder and will be used at a different location. The new set is mainly for for disconnecting terminals in battery boxes and on the backside of impacts

Stanley has basically doubled its presence in Canada with addition of Craftsman. They have always sold Stanley and Fat Max in Canadian Tire, a 500 store chain. Now Craftsman is sold at Lowes owned Rona also a 500 + store chain.

From what I have seen the new Craftsman is geared to the budget conscious DIY that shops at brick and mortar stores

kythri · Jul 7, 2018

I'm not making any kind of prediction about anything,just an observation, but I was at my local Lowe's yesterday, and there's an endcap in the tool department filled with Black and Decker power tools, and it's all yellow-tagged for clearance.

Didn't really see any other Black and Decker power tools around...

Firebrick43 · Jul 7, 2018

The only thing so far at our lowes was a 40" top box

I was actually impressed with it. It wasn't lista or snap on quality but better than most in recent past. Soft close drawer slides (which I had not actually used before) and was made in the USA "with global components". Probably a Waterloo box???

WWheeler · Jul 7, 2018

Firebrick43 said:
The only thing so far at our lowes was a 40" top box

I was actually impressed with it. It wasn't lista or snap on quality but better than most in recent past. Soft close drawer slides (which I had not actually used before) and was made in the USA "with global components". Probably a Waterloo box???

Probably. Stanley bought Waterloo in January.

Jaysreal · Jul 7, 2018

WWheeler said:
Probably. Stanley bought Waterloo in January.

For the record I think those are still hold over boxes. I've seen those boxes in Sears before Stanley even bought Craftsman.

Plus the guy I work with every day has that 50-something inch, made in USA box, and he got it from Sears In December.

Just last week I looked at the 26 inch top with the power strip and it's available at Lowe's and Sears. Sears wanted $226 when it was on sale at Lowe's for $199 but of coarse Lowe's now bumped it back up to $249 now.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

6PTsocket · Jul 7, 2018

Did you get that from Tool Guyd ? I have seen that at no other place. You would think it would be more widely mentioned if it was true. If you have another source for the purchase of Waterloo, I would love to see it.

WWheeler said:
Probably. Stanley bought Waterloo in January.

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WWheeler · Jul 7, 2018

6PTsocket said:
Did you get that from Tool Guyd ? I have seen that at no other place. You would think it would be more widely mentioned if it was true. If you have another source for the purchase of Waterloo, I would love to see it.

Yes that's where I heard it.
https://toolguyd.com/stanley-black-decker-acquired-waterloo/

Looks like ToolGuyd got confirmation of it from the audio replay of Stanley Black & Decker’s Q4 2017 earnings call. If you go to the '2017' tab on the link below and listen to the Q4 Audio Replay from 39:15 to 39:30 they are discussing repatriating Craftsman manufacturing to the US when they mention SBD acquiring Waterloo which he calls it a 'dedicated Craftsman manufacturing facility'.

http://ir.stanleyblackanddecker.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=114416&p=quarterlyearnings#tabs

- - - - - - - - - - -
Edit: It's also mentioned here in this Reuters article from March:

Toolbox trade wars: How a sure winner in U.S. dispute has yet to reap benefits
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ispute-has-yet-to-reap-benefits-idUSKCN1GO0CE

4th paragraph:

Metal Box International is one of only two remaining U.S. producers of such boxes. The other is Waterloo Industries, a far larger company recently acquired by Stanley Black & Decker Inc, the global tool producer.

kythri · Jul 8, 2018

6PTsocket said:
I have seen that at no other place. You would think it would be more widely mentioned if it was true.

Stuey doesn't post fake news.

xin · Jul 8, 2018

Bring it back to the U S A !

WWheeler · Jul 8, 2018

In that "Toolbox trade wars" article linked above I was surprised to see in the slideshow that the old-school Husky boxes are made in the US. Perhaps that was common knowledge around here but I didn't know it. There they were making them at Metal Box International in Franklin Park, Illinois. The newer flat-black Husky boxes (little heavier gauge and drawer weight limits, soft close drawers, etc) are made in China. Or at least they were. I guess no telling what happens as a result of the tarriffs back and forth.

Coach James · Jul 9, 2018

Sears trip to bankruptcy started 45 years ago, long before Eddie came along. Sears was the go to place for the generation that fought WWII. Sears finances began to deteriorate when the WWII generation reached the age of being empty nesters that no longer needed to set up new homes and raise kids, which corresponded to the early 1970's.

Boomers used Sears, but not like their parents did. Unlike most of their parents, boomers also used the big boxes and specialty stores that popped up in the early 1970's

Just because Sears had a long history of catalog sales doesn't mean they should have buried Amazon. What made Amazon a success wasn't just online ordering. What set Amazon apart was 2 and 3 day shipping and the illusion of free shipping.

Coach

JazzBlueRT · Jul 9, 2018

Coach James said:
Sears trip to bankruptcy started 45 years ago, long before Eddie came along. Sears was the go to place for the generation that fought WWII. Sears finances began to deteriorate when the WWII generation reached the age of being empty nesters that no longer needed to set up new homes and raise kids, which corresponded to the early 1970's.

Boomers used Sears, but not like their parents did. Unlike most of their parents, boomers also used the big boxes and specialty stores that popped up in the early 1970's

Just because Sears had a long history of catalog sales doesn't mean they should have buried Amazon. What made Amazon a success wasn't just online ordering. What set Amazon apart was 2 and 3 day shipping and the illusion of free shipping.

Coach

Sears had the ability and infrastructure to offer same day delivery in most of the country 20 years ago. Every Sears had a catalog/online order pickup area which is still better than anything offered by any clicks-to-morter retailer today.

Osirus · Jul 16, 2018

I noticed last week here that the big dedicated "Welcome Craftsman" section with all their CM stuff was gone and now the CM stuff is just intermixed along with everything else back in the normal tool section.

Still nothing new, just the same 3-4 socket sets, wrench sets, and some cheap-looking flashlights.

Moparman390 · Jul 16, 2018

We'll see what's coming from SBD as far as Craftsman is concerned on 8/17 as that is their launch event day where they promise 1,200+ items I believe. I can't link to this as this information was from a registration page where you could enter to win a trip to said launch event on Craftsman.com and I can no longer find it. Someone else here had a link to it at one time. I did come across a PDF of the rules for it via Googleing it.

kythri · Jul 16, 2018

https://craftsmanlaunchevent.com/

tomjacob · Dec 13, 2019

Thanks for the nice post. I always prefer to go to lowes stores for hardware. and love to take their lowes $500 survey

Craftsman is at Lowes

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